Southern California -- this just in

Hotter-than-normal temperatures to persist across Southland

Forecasters say temperatures will drop slightly across the Southland on Tuesday -- but it's still going to be a hot one.

A day after temperatures hovered around 100 degrees for much of the Los Angeles area, the National Weather Service said most places would see a cool-down of a couple degrees Tuesday.

The warmest areas will again be in the valleys, said weather service meteorologist Todd Hall in Oxnard. Woodland Hills is expected to hit 105 degrees, with temperatures reaching 103 in Pasadena and 102 in Burbank.

Downtown Los Angeles, which reached a near-record-breaking temperature of 95 degrees on Monday, is forecast to reach 94 on Tuesday. The record is 100 degrees in 2008.

"The actual measurements may be a degree or two cooler, but it won't feel much different," Hall said.

A red-flag warning remained in effect through 6 p.m. Tuesday, as officials worried that the unusually hot weather, lower humidity and winds could spark fires.

But there was some good news in the forecast: Temperatures are expected to break Wednesday and drop about 10 degrees. Hall said the weather would get "progressively cooler" as the week goes on.

Until August, every month in 2012 except for January had been cooler
than normal. August was more than two degrees hotter than average, and
September more than three degrees hotter.

Bill Patzert, a climatologist for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
in La Cañada Flintridge, said summer, fall and spring had on the
whole been cooler during the last three years -- and that included August
and September, two traditionally very warm months.

"Then all of a sudden this August, we had a complete flip-flop," he said. "It's been hot and steamy."